Other utilities are giving similar good news to their natural gas customers. Market prices for the fuel are down from a year ago, due to a combination of decreased demand because of the recession, increased storage of the gas for the winter season, and the addition of some new supply to the market.
“The whole market moved in a way it hasn’t moved before,” Whiteside said.
Duke Energy Ohio, which provides natural gas and electricity service from the Franklin and Springboro area south to the Ohio River, anticipates a similar price drop for natural gas customers, Duke spokeswoman Sally Thelen said Thursday. She was unable to provide specific estimates.
Customers who enroll in a utility’s budget-billing plan do so in order to pay a predictable monthly rate at a predetermined figure, that the company will recalculate at least annually, to account for market price changes. Only about 67,000 of Vectren’s 320,000 residential customers in the Dayton region participate in the budget-billing plan, Whiteside said.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2242 or jnolan@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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